Wild Irish Rose
by Manx Maiden
Summary: Chloe discovers a severely injured young woman lying on the ground in Clark’s barn. Taking her to the hospital, she wakes up and can't remember who she is. It's now is up to our favorite heroes to uncover her shadowed past and discover who wants her dead.
1. Chapter 1

**Wild Irish Rose**

**Justice's Beginning**

**Summary: ****Chloe and Clark discover a very wounded young woman in Clark's barn barely breathing. Taking her to the hospital, she wakes up with no memory and it is up to our favorite heroes to discover her shadowed past.**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Smallville or its characters. I wrote this purely for fun and to improve my own writing talents. I do, however, own my character, Rose McCree.**

**Author's Note: ****This is my first story and the beginning of a series of stories involving the members the Justice League. I would very much appreciate both criticism and praises.**

**Also, it is extremely important that you read the prologue. It prepares you for the discovery in the next chapter.**

**Prologue**

**Scarlet Stains**

Searing pain flooded her body and mind, distorting her vision causing her to trip and come crashing to the uncaring earth. Dirt and rocks mixed with open wounds, bringing tears to her eyes as she picked herself back up and started to run again. Searching into the distant night, she hurriedly limped her way towards the only light she could still see.

It vaguely flickered in the distance, but still called out to her as her last symbol of hope. She ran through the cornfield with only one prayer on her lips. She prayed that who ever owned the light in the distance would find her in time to save her.

She came towards the end of the field and she actually began to think that she might life. Her spirit almost seemed to come alive and her mind pushed her dying body harder. The will to survive drove her to push her clearly broken leg to it limits. New waves of terrifying pain ripped up her thigh, but her will refused to give in to her fate.

Falling again, her vision blacken and she fought hard to remain consciousness. She knew that if she passed out her, she would never be found until it was far too late. Fighting with all she had, she lifted up off her knees and once again limped towards the light.

As she came nearer, she realized the light was actually the porch light on a farmhouse. She soon came out of the husks that had shielded her, and she rushed out unto the unsheltered dirt path leading to the farmhouse. Knowing that she was now a very easy target, she almost pleading looked towards the light as she continued towards it.

She ran, as best she could, like the hounds of Hades were after her because in a reality, they were. She had no idea how far behind her her attackers were, but she knew that she didn't have much time. She barely heard a bark and a few shouts behind her because her senses quickly fading due to the pain. Her long, scarlet locks blended in with the scarlet pools that were rapidly spilling across her body.

As the last of her vision began to leave her, she had a horrifying realization that she would never make it to the farmhouse. Knowing she would pass out long before she was even halfway there, her blurred mind tiredly searching for any other shelter. Looking as best she could to her right, she saw the answer to her prayers.

She shuffled into the barn and managed to finally collapse behind a tractor. She knew her chances were slim and her blood loss was now nearly irreversible by even the best of hospitals. At least, she thought, she would die in peace without giving the honor of the final blow to the enemy.

Hopefully, whenever the local police were notified of her body, they would find something about the man who arranged for her death. She doubted it would seal her murderer's fate, but at least her death might draw attention to his horrifying activities. Then, she would have at least died for something.

She somehow, with the lightest of movements, made one last attempt to hide herself with a slight blanket of hay. The blood made the hay cling to her face, hands, and now drenched clothing. As she held her hand over her the bubbling gap on her stomach, she glanced up with weak emerald eyes at the sky above her.

From what best she could see, there was some sort of a loft above her. Staring up at it, she clinched once again the only possession of value she had tightly in her hand. She felt the rounded beads and the oval sapphire prick her palm. Hearing a sound, she glanced down to see, to her relief, a pair of red pumps near her head. The owner was a blonde that had not seemed to notice her yet.

Making a pained, muffled sound, she watched to the blonde turned around in her direction. Glancing around, the light haired woman looked down to her and a look of uncensored horror came over her face. Screaming a name that she could not understand through her fading senses, the young woman rushed over to her and the wounded woman tried not to scream as a coat was pulled around her as if to seal in what little blood she had left.

The eyes of her worried heroine roamed over her bruised body. They then came back to meet the tired eyes of the dying red head. Lighting clasping one of the hands holding the coat around her, Chloe felt the bracelet in her hand. Seeing the hand drop from her own, Chloe looks at the very expensive and beautiful piece of jewelry she now held. Chloe then looked up to watch as the young woman's eyes finally began to close and one last sound fell from her lips.

"_Scathach." _Chloe's confused yes only widened. _"The secret is Scathach,"_ were the last words she managed to whisper.

**Author's Note: I hoped you liked this and I would love to get some reviews. I am trying my best to write the timeline of this story like an episode of Smallville. Let's see how I fair.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wild Irish Rose**

**Justice's Beginning**

**Summary: **Chloe and Clark discover a very wounded young woman in Clark's barn barely breathing. Taking her to the hospital, she wakes up with no memory and it is up to our favorite heroes to discover her shadowed past.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Smallville or its characters. I wrote this purely for fun and to improve my own writing talents. I do, however, own my character, Rose McCree.

**Author's Note: **Thanks to my very first reviewer ever! I appreciate the review and I tried to update with this new chapter as soon as I possibly good. Ironically, I got a chance to get this done because I am currently trapped in my house with my parents and an ice storm. I also will try to get things moving in this next chapter, so let me know how well ya'll like the pace.

Chapter One

Unknown Reasons

The clicking of Chloe's pumps hitting the floor echoed through the hallway, as she and Clark ran through the hospital following the paramedics. They watched as the woman was practically raced into E.R. and the double doors swung open and closed as she passed through. Clark went over to fill the sheriff in on the night's events, but Chloe was routed to her spot in the middle of the wide hallway.

She had seen her fair share of tragedies growing up in Smallville. She had seen pain and suffering, including her own, and she knew what it looked like. But when she stumbled across that red-haired woman…

There was blood everywhere; smeared across the barn floor, a bloody handprint on the door, the hay was bathed in it, and the sheriff's men even found a long travel of it leading through Clark's cornfield.

She had bruises all over her full-figured frame that made would have put Titian to shame. She had so many rips, tears, and cuts, which seemed to go directly to the bone. Her skin had already been so pale, and Chloe wondered how it was possible that someone could look like that and live.

As horrifying as the sight of her was, it was the woman's words that kept repeating in her mind. Scathach. The Secret is Scathach. Chloe could still see her whisper those words and her eyes slowly closing. The woman had looked so desperate, almost pleading.

Chloe's nearly five-minute stupor was finally interrupted when Clark put his hand on her shoulder. "Chloe, the sheriff needs your statement."

Looking at her frozen form, he started to worry. "Chloe, are you alright?"

"Fine," she said after some hesitation. Turning, Chloe let him lead her over to the sheriff.

Clark arrived at Chloe's house at seven the next morning. He walked through the bustling Talon and up to Chloe's apartment. Receiving a "come in" at his knocking, he walked in to see a sad sight.

The apartment was covered in papers and coffee cups. Searching the debris, he managed to locate a very disheveled Chloe. She was still sitting on the couch were he had left her last night, but she was now wearing a tank top and a pair of pajama pants. She had no make up on and her hair had yet to be brushed. Looking closer at her, Clark could see the heavy bags under her eyes as she stared at her laptop.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" he asked somewhat alarmed.

Chloe didn't even glance up at him, but leaped up and ran to a stack of freshly printed out papers instead. Clark watched his caffeine driven friend dig through the pile. Nearly flinging any offending pieces across the room, she finally found what she was looking for.

Clark stared at the group of papers practically thrown at him, and then glanced to Chloe. "What is this?" he asked.

"Do you remember what I told that woman said to me before she passed out?" Chloe asked shuffling back over to her laptop.

"Yes, she said Scatkan, right?"

"It was Scathach, Clark. She said that the secret was Scathach," Chloe stressed the proper pronunciation.

"It's kind of hard to pronounce," he said sheepishly, "It must be foreign or something."

"That's just it, it is!" she shouted in glee as she turned back to face him. "Those words stuck in my head all night, so I just had to find out what they meant."

"Yeah, and stay up all night to do it too," Clark scolded.

"Yep, and it was worth it. I found out that it's actually ancient Irish Gaelic. Good ahead, read the papers I gave you."

Clark quickly glanced over them and a look of disgust and shock came over his face. "What kind of a story is this?" Clark marveled.

Sighing, Chloe stood up and hopped back over to him. "Its an ancient Celtic legend."

"Celtic?" Clark interrupted.

"They were the ancient ancestors of the Irish, Clark." Watching him shrug, she continued, "The story is that this "Scathach" was the greatest woman warrior in the world way back when. She even trained the legendary Irish hero, Cúchulainn."

"So, what is this about forcing her daughter to marry her lover's murder?" he asked mortified.

"Well, apparently Cúchulainn was secretly dating his teacher's daughter, Uathach, and somehow broke her fingers or something. It was an accident, but her daughter called her real boyfriend to help her. The boyfriend and Cúchulainn apparently fought and this Cúchulainn guy won, killing him. The penalty that Scathach decided was that the winner had to become her daughter's lover."

"Not exactly the best of lessons," Clark commented. "Well, it seems a lot of these Irish legends end like that. I guess we can't all have fairytales like Sleeping Beauty," Chloe pointed out.

"Well, anyway it has to mean something. I guess the only way to find out is to ask the girl herself," Chloe said, "How is she?"

"The doctor said that the fact she made it was a miracle. They're still working on her, but they think she is going to make it."

"Do they know who she is, yet?" Chloe asked shutting down her computer.

"Not yet. The sheriff is still looking into it." Thinking for a moment, he asked, "What about the bracelet you found?"

"Our good sheriff took it for evidence, but I did give a description to Jimmy and he's trying to track it down. Are you going to the hospital?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "I just came to check on you first."

"Okay, I'll shower and head over with you," she announced.

He nodded and left the apartment to wait for Chloe. He headed down the stairs and sat down at the bar. Ordering a cappuccino, he began to sip silently and he began to muse over the recent events. His sanctity, however, was interrupted when Lois plopped down on the stool beside him.

"Guess what story I landed, Smallville." she dared him with a smirk.

Raising his eyebrow, he said, "Bigfoot marries Lex?"

"Well, that wouldn't be half bad, but no. You know that girl that you and Chloe found? Well, they found an I.D. in your cornfield with the name Rose McCree and our mysterious lady in red's picture on it."

"Why didn't the sheriff tell about it? He and his men have been searching my farm all night. He promised me that he would tell me when he found anything," Clark said slightly annoyed.

"Probably, because the sheriff has been kicked off the case by the F.B.I." Lois filled in.

"The F.B.I.?" Clark sighed and rose from the barstool.

Watching him head towards the door, she asked, "Smallville, where are you going?"

"To see what's going on at my house," he stated, "Lois, can you go with Chloe to the hospital? I told her I would, but I see what's going on first."

"Sure," Lois said and turned back towards the bar. Nearly twenty minutes after the door's bell went off with Clark's departure, Chloe rushed down the stairs.

"Clark?" she called. "Nope," Lois walked up to her, "He went to find out why the government's high jacking his farm, so you're stuck with me."

"Government high jacking his house? What…" she started to ask. "I'll fill you in on the details on the way," Lois interrupted her. Grapping her freshly brewed, overpriced coffee, Lois rushed a confused Chloe out the door.

Lois and Chloe arrived at the hospital about ten minutes later. Walking up to the nurse's station, she inquired about the woman's health. Soon enough, the nurse went into hospital rules and family only. As Chloe continued to argue with the nurse, Lois grew tired quickly and interrupted.

"Excuse me, I really need to use the bathroom. Um, which way is it?" Lois asked sweetly.

Staring at her as if debating, the nurse finally said, "Head down that hall and take a left."

"Thanks a bunch. I didn't think that I could hold it much longer." Turning around with an exaggerated swirl, she "accidentally" knocked over a stack of files with her purse. "I am so sorry!" Lois cried out as she helped the nurse gather up the mess.

Not missing a beat, Chloe nearly, yet silently, leaped across the counter in front of her. Grabbing the mouse, she scanned the nurse's computer with the speed of a cheetah. Hopping back to her previous position, she watched as Lois apologized for her "clumsiness".

As the nurse put the files back on her desk, Chloe mouthed something to her cousin. Nodding, Lois apologized again to the annoyed nurse and headed down the hall. Leaving Chloe to continue arguing with the nurse, Lois followed the instructions and turned only at the last minute to walk in the opposite direction.

Walking down a series of hallways, she finally walked to door with an exit sign above it. Opening it to let her cousin in, Lois asked, "So, how did you get away?"

Now marching along side her, Chloe said, "She threatened to call security and I left. I guess that's the thanks you get when you save somebody's life."

"Yeah, well let's find Miss McCree before Nurse Ratchet realizes that I'm gone," Lois urged.

"Okay, this way," Chloe said, leading her cousin down another hallway.

When Chloe finally stopped at private room, Lois followed her in only to see a very battered and bruised young woman lying in the bed before them. The woman was still as pale as when Chloe found her, but her breathing was noticeable now. Staring at her for a moment, the cousins couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy for her.

Chloe, finally coming out of her stupor, walked over to the edge of the bed and picked up her chart.

"Wow," Lois said horrified, "You weren't kidding when you told me she was really beaten up."

"Trust me, Lois, she looked a lot worse when I first found her."

Glancing back to her cousin, Lois asked, "So, how is she?"

"Well, she has several cuts and bruises, three broken ribs, her right leg is broken, one of her wrists is sprained, she has at least two major stab wounds, and of course, there's also the blood lost," Chloe read aloud.

"Well, glad to know that it's nothing serious," Lois said weakly.

Suddenly, the two women heard footsteps outside the door and dashed in the bathroom cracking the door. Crouching to gaze inside the room, they watched in silence as a male nurse came into the room. He checked the woman's chart and then walked over to check her vitals on the monitor. The two women in hiding glanced at each other impatiently and waited for him to leave. Finally, he walked over to the door and walked outside.

Chloe had almost opened the door when the man came right back in the room. Now alert, the two girls watched on as the man shut and locked the door. Their breath now quickening, the cousins both stared on with wide eyes as he pulled a needle out of his pants' pocket. Pushing the plunger to ready the syringe, he lowered the object to the girl's arm without the IV. The helpless, unconscious woman made now attempt to stop him, as he brought the needle to her main artery.

Before Chloe could even move, Lois flung open the door and tackled the man to the floor. Surprised and caught off guard, the man slammed against the side of the bed with Lois struggling to keep him down. Bringing his elbow back, he knocked her straight in the nose. Clasping her bleeding nose, Lois leapt to her feet in front of the unconscious woman.

Lois and unnamed man stared at each other as he now pointed the needle towards her. Just as her started to move, a loud crash was heard and he was sent tumbling to the ground. Lois looked up at her cousin standing over the man. Chloe's shocked face switched between Lois and the man who now lay unconscious with broken pieces of glass around him.

**Author's Note: **This kind of turned out differently than I thought it would, but I hope it raises some more questions for you. I tried my best to keep everyone in character, so let me know how I did. I would also like to give everyone a brief preview for up coming chapters. The Justice League characters, although I am not sure just who yet, will be appearing to help in this story. Also, Clark will end up living with Oliver, so let's see how well it turns out, shall we?


End file.
